HONG KONG/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In a 2013 script for the movie “Pixels,” intergalactic aliens blast a hole in one of China’s national treasures – the Great Wall.

That scene is gone from the final version of the sci-fi comedy, starring Adam Sandler and released by Sony Pictures Entertainment this week in the United States. The aliens strike iconic sites elsewhere, smashing the Taj Mahal in India, the Washington Monument and parts of Manhattan.

HONG KONG/LOS ANGELES, July 24 (Reuters) – In a 2013 script
for the movie “Pixels,” intergalactic aliens blast a hole in one
of China’s national treasures – the Great Wall.

That scene is gone from the final version of the sci-fi
comedy, starring Adam Sandler and released by Sony Pictures
Entertainment this week in the United States. The aliens strike
iconic sites elsewhere, smashing the Taj Mahal in India, the
Washington Monument and parts of Manhattan.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – On a recent Sunday night in the working class Hong Kong district of Mong Kok, a group of young, radical activists swore through loud-hailers and gestured rudely as they denounced mainland Chinese as “prostitutes” and “barbarians”.

The youngsters are members of a new front that is using increasingly aggressive tactics to demand an independent Hong Kong free from mainland China’s grip.

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – On a dusty industrial lot in northern Hong Kong, a group of travellers sheltered in the shade away from the pressing July heat, packing old cloth bags and backpacks with Styrofoam to protect a more precious cargo: smuggled meat.

Crowded amid the warehouses of Sheung Shui, a remote suburb near the mainland border, the group of around 40 are about to take frozen Brazilian beef into China to feed a growing demand for meat that is unsated by local produce or approved imports.

SHANGHAI/HONG KONG, July 16 (Reuters) – On a dusty
industrial lot in northern Hong Kong, a group of travellers
sheltered in the shade away from the pressing July heat, packing
old cloth bags and backpacks with Styrofoam to protect a more
precious cargo: smuggled meat.

Crowded amid the warehouses of Sheung Shui, a remote suburb
near the mainland border, the group of around 40 are about to
take frozen Brazilian beef into China to feed a growing demand
for meat that is unsated by local produce or approved imports.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – It was meant to be a major set-piece event, potentially the most important bill put to Hong Kong’s legislature since the former British colony’s 1997 handover to Chinese rule, but it ended in unscripted embarrassment for the pro-Beijing establishment.

For almost 20 months, lawmakers and officials in the financial hub tussled over a China-vetted electoral reform package that needed a two-thirds majority from the 70-seat chamber to pass.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong’s leader warned on Tuesday that violence will not be tolerated, a day after authorities arrested 10 people and seized suspected explosives ahead of a crucial vote on a China-backed electoral reform package this week.

Security has been stepped up across the Chinese-ruled city, including at government buildings and train stations, as it braces for a fresh showdown over plans for how its next leader is elected in 2017.

HONG KONG (Reuters) – Hong Kong police arrested nine people and seized suspected explosives, authorities said on Monday, as the city goes on high alert ahead of a crucial vote on a China-backed electoral reform package that sparked widespread protests last year.

The overnight raids involving scores of officers came three days after police warned they were monitoring on-line activity to track anyone planning to incite violence. Dozens were on patrol on Monday near government headquarters, where metal fences have been erected, before debate on the package begins on Wednesday.

HONG KONG, June 4 (Reuters) – Tens of thousands are due to
attend a candlelight vigil in Hong Kong on Thursday to mark
China’s 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in
Beijing, an anniversary given added poignancy by protests that
gripped the Chinese-run city last year.

The political temperature is rising again in Hong Kong ahead
of a June 17 vote on a Beijing-vetted electoral package that
democrats says makes a mockery of pledges to eventually grant
the city universal suffrage..